Demand for RTI replies in braille
20 Oct, 2012
A visually challenged RTI activist, Shobhu Ram has demanded that the Information Commissions should take cognisance of the special needs of the citizens like him and provide the information in braille. The ideal situation of every blind person owning a computer and scanner with speaking software is a dream in India.
He pointed to the usual view plaguing the society and government departments that a 100 per cent blind person cannot work. Citing his own example, he referred to an incident where he was rejected by the interview board for the post of the District Public Relations Officer even though he was the only candidate who had cleared the written examination. Currently, Shobhu Ram is working as an announcer in the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation.
By using the RTI Act, he has exposed many cases where people who got the fake medical certificate of being “blind” on the basis of which they got employment in the reserved category of “visually-challenged”. He also participated in the 7th annual convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC) that culminated recently.
This site had reported the initiative taken by the State Information Commission (SIC) of Tamilnadu with the help from the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped whereby the blind can now get replies to their queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Braille. http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/tamilnadu-state-information-commission-reply-rti-a-1732